


Who Needs Tinsel When You've Got Mistletoe

by QuarkInShiningArmour



Series: Gammahammer one shots [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Falling In Love In Space, M/M, Post-Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-29 14:09:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17204810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuarkInShiningArmour/pseuds/QuarkInShiningArmour
Summary: Bruce is confused when he can't seem to find Thor anywhere on the ship.  His confusion only grows when he gives up his search and returns to his room...Pure Thorbruce fluff for the Secret Santa.





	Who Needs Tinsel When You've Got Mistletoe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hypathetical](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hypathetical/gifts).



> Hope you guys like this!! Merry Christmas and a happy Hogmanay!

Bruce was heading back to his quarters, heading back home after having dinner in the mess hall with Heimdall.  He hadn’t really meant to eat with him; the golden-eyed god was still a little intimidating to Bruce, but ordinarily he ate with Thor and whoever Thor’s companions for the afternoon were, and today Thor was nowhere to be found.  As an all-seeing, all-knowing being, Bruce had thought that Heimdall would be the ideal person to ask for Thor’s whereabouts, but as soon as he initiated conversation with him, Bruce second-guessed his course of action.

Heimdall’s power was that he saw everything in all of the nine realms, and so one of the worries that planted itself in Bruce’s head was that maybe Heimdall would take offense at being asked to perform such a simple task, to be pestered into using his talents for looking for a man that Bruce had seen only hours before.  A larger part of Bruce’s worries came from him thinking about quite how much Heimdall really saw.

If Heimdall really saw everything, that meant he saw the way that Bruce had started smiling more in Thor’s presence, the way he’d sought out his company increasingly since they started their journey towards Earth on the Statesman.  He must have seen the way that Bruce’s gaze lingered on Thor as he left the room, each night after dinner.  It wouldn’t be hard to go from there to making the (correct) assumption that Bruce’s feelings for Thor had grown to the point where he was at least halfway to falling in love.

Heimdall might have even seen what had happened the night before, when Thor had asked to visit Bruce’s quarters so that they could finish the conversation they had had over their food.  They’d ended up talking for hours, about space, about bits of Earth culture that baffled Bruce just as much as Thor (what do elves have to do with the birth of a religious figure?), about both of their childhoods.  Bruce shared the very few good times he could remember; going to the library with his cousin and the one nice Christmas of his childhood where his father had to work, so he just spent the day with his mother.

In turn, Thor shared a host of stories from his millennia-long life.  Each story in which Loki featured was a little confusing to Bruce; most featured Loki threatening (or more than threatening) bodily harm on Thor, but somehow Thor didn’t seem to mind this, accepted it as just a part of Loki’s mischief.

By the time they had finished talking, it was well into the morning of the next day, and over the course of the night they had grown closer, Bruce finding it increasingly difficult to keep his feelings to himself.  Thankfully he hadn’t had to.  Thor had left for his quarters with a swift kiss to Bruce’s lips, leaving him floating, happy, but confused, his head full of imaginings of how it would have been if Thor would have taken it further, if Bruce had gotten to feel Thor’s body pressed hard against his own.

He hadn’t really considered that Thor would share his feelings, and that kiss had left him with more questions than answers.  Bruce had been looking out for Thor all day, wanting to talk to him, get some proof to himself that it really happened, that he hadn’t imagined it.

Instead of concluding his search he’d just sat through dinner with Heimdall.  Bruce was sure he was a lovely man, but the fact that Heimdall might know even more about his attraction (relationship?) to Thor than he yet did had put him too on edge to make normal conversation.

A little disheartened at not finding Thor, Bruce went to open the door for his quarters and make up for the lack of sleep he’d had last night.

His immediate reaction when he looked in his room was to wonder how there were so many more stars than even the millions he could usually through his window.  Once his eyes had adjusted to the light he realised that, no, they weren’t stars, they were lights, fairy lights hung from every possible hook and crevice.

Up on a ladder in the corner of the room was Thor, and judging by the way his back was turned and he hadn’t responded to Bruce’s entrance, Bruce doubted he’d heard him come in.  Bruce’s heart felt lighter in his chest at having finally found Thor, but he was still confused, trying to clear his throat to get Thor’s attention but it came out more as a tentative cough.

Thor spun around at the noise, nearly falling off the ladder but just about catching himself.

“Bruce! You’re here!”  He stepped down the ladder and made his way to Bruce.  “I apologize, I had hoped to finish this before you arrived, it has taken much longer than I anticipated.” 

“What exactly is all this?” Bruce asked, still none the wiser.  Thor lit up at that, gesturing to all of the things he’d put up. 

“These are fairy lights, I’ve put them all around your room.  Well, technically they’re not designed to be lights, they are left-over light-up cables from the section of the ship that was damaged by Hela’s enormous sword-spikes she used to dig into the ship.  But I thought that on a refugee ship we couldn’t be too picky.  And over here –“ Thor pointed out some thin, shiny, woven material hanging on his wardrobe. “- This is tinsel.  Or, at least, it’s meant to be.  Tinsel doesn’t really exist on Asgard, and if it had, it hardly would have been the first thing for us to save.  This was originally insulation material from the rations we have already eaten, but I thought that, when torn and twisted, it looked quite like the decorations you would find on Earth.”

“It looks great.”  Bruce interrupted Thor before he could continue.  It didn’t exactly look like tinsel, the cables didn’t exactly look like fairy lights, but Bruce felt a smile grow from his eyes outwards nonetheless.  “But Thor, err…”  He didn’t really know how to phrase his question.  “What’s all of this for?  All the glitter, and light?”

“It’s for Christmas!”  The way he said it made it seem like it was obvious. “You missed two Christmases and I believe that, were we on Earth right now, this would be the right time of year to celebrate it.  You told me about your mother and how she tried to make it a good time for you, and I didn’t want you to be deprived of that, not for the third year in a row.”

Bruce felt a warmth, a fondness spread upwards from his chest at that. 

“Thank you.”  He was more than thankful but he didn’t have the words, couldn’t express how much.  “It looks great.”  Thor beamed in return, but looked uncharacteristically nervous.

“I did think to add one last decoration, something common to both of our cultures.  On Asgard, it’s used as a symbol of remembrance, so it’s not shocking that on this ship of mourning souls, I was able to find some.”  There was a little bit of sadness in Thor’s eye at that, but he was mostly hopeful.  “On, Earth, I believe it has rather a different meaning.”  He pulled a sprig from his pocket, a plant familiar to Bruce, with white, pearl-like berries.  “Would you like to add the final touch to your decorations?”

Nodding, lightheaded from what Thor was implying, Bruce took the mistletoe and the small length of string attached to it and stepped up the ladder.  He could feel Thor’s gaze on him as he fiddled with the sprig, hooking it to a loop that Thor must have put up there already.  Once it was secured, he took a couple of steps downwards, getting distracted as his eyes were level with Thor’s.

The mistletoe was now directly above them, the physical distance between them barely there, everything seemed aligned.  Bruce was close enough that he was sharing Thor’s oxygen, so close that when Thor glanced up above them, Bruce saw him out of focus. 

Bruce closed the gap between them, kissing Thor strongly, casting any doubt from his mind.  Immediately, Bruce could feel Thor press back, the pressure sweet and soft, so instantaneous that it made it clear that Thor had been waiting for Bruce to kiss him.  A heat (perhaps it was static? Bruce wouldn’t put it past him) emanated from every point of contact between them.

Too soon, Thor pulled back.  Not far, just enough that he could whisper against Bruce’s mouth.

“Merry Christmas, Banner.”  Bruce smiled bashfully, lightheaded and amused that Thor would still use his surname after kissing him.

“Merry Christma-“ He went to reply but was cut off by Thor’s lips on his.

One of Thor’s hands, coarse from wielding weapons and yet so gentle against Bruce’s skin, made its way up to brush Bruce’s cheek.  Taking that as permission, Bruce threaded the fingers of one hand through Thor’s hair, and wrapped the other around Thor’s back, holding him closer.  Thor responded in kind, moaning, and Bruce used the opportunity to brush his tongue into Thor’s mouth. 

Bruce felt the arms around him hold him closer and all of a sudden he felt weightless.  For a moment, the thought that it was just a mental side effect of how good Thor felt against him, but then he realised, no, Thor had (perhaps unintentionally) lifted him off the step-ladder.  He smiled, almost laughed against Thor’s mouth, and Thor dropped him down and pulled apart.

Unable to wipe the smile from his face, Bruce held onto Thor’s arms, making sure he didn’t pull too far away.

“Merry Christmas, Thor,” Bruce finished the phrase he’d begun earlier.  He watched as Thor’s eye darted to look between his two.  He almost looked flustered and Bruce couldn’t believe that he was the cause.  “All of this –“ Bruce waved at the decorations. “ – You.  It’s better than any of the holidays I had back at home.”

“Really?”  Thor looked fond, hopeful.  “It’s not –  _I’m_ not – too much?”

In place on an answer, he leaped forward, kissing Thor again, a little more vigorously than he had anticipated, pushing Thor’s legs back so they made contact with the bed. A little surprised at his own actions, Bruce drew away.

“You’re not too much, Thor.”  Bruce tried to keep his voice steady.  The makeshift fairy lights were reflecting rainbows on the god’s skin, and Bruce couldn’t look away.  It  _was_  a lot for him; the lights, all the decorations were over-the-top and mildly ridiculous, but Bruce’s enthusiasm for life, enthusiasm for  _fun_ had grown with every minute he spent longer with Thor.  “You’re everything I want.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you thought folks!
> 
> find me on tumblr @goddessofgamma


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